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Miltiades was a man who was in the right place at the right time; the Thrakian (Thracian) tribe, the Dolonki (Dolonci), were the rulers of the Khersonese (Chersonese) and were under constant attack by the Apsinthians; to find a solution to their problems, the Dolonki sent an envoy to the oracle at Delphi for advice; the pythia told the envoy to ask the first person they met, who offered them hospitality, to become the “founder” of their nation.

The Dolonki were ignored by everyone they encountered until they came to the city of Athens where Miltiades greeted them and offered them shelter and food; they told him of the oracle’s command and Miltiades, being a religious man, also consulted the oracle at Delphi where he was told to accept the Dolonki offer.

Miltiades gathered some followers and became the tyrant of the Khersonese (circa 540 BCE); he built a wall across the isthmus and successfully stopped the attacks by the Apsinthians; Miltiades, being an athletic and aggressive man, initiated a war with the Lampsakenes (Lampsacenes); he was captured in battle but was released unharmed when the king of Lydia, Kroesus (Croesus) threatened the Lampsakenes with utter destruction.

When Miltiades died he had no sons; his half-nephew, Stesagoras, became ruler of the Khersonese and continued the war with the Lampsakenes; the people of the Khersonese had the greatest respect for Miltiades and, after his death, instituted a festival with athletic games and chariot racing in his honor but no Lampsakenes were allowed to participate.

Stesagoras was murdered by a man who claimed to be a deserter from the Lampsakenes; Stesagoras was childless when he died and the leadership fell to his brother who was also named Miltiades and commonly referred to as Miltiades the Younger.

The son of Kimon (Cimon) and the third member of his family to rule the Khersonese (Chersonese) as tyrant.

Miltiades was the youngest of two sons and when his brother, Stesagoras, was murdered he became the tyrant of the Khersonese; he was living in the city of Athens (circa 495 BCE) where his father, Kimon, was a prominent citizen as well as a renowned chariot racer.

Unbeknownst to Miltiades, the sons of the tyrant, Pisistratus, murdered his father and sent Miltiades to the Khersonese to assume the throne after the death of his older brother, Stesagoras, in order to have him away from Athens.

Miltiades faced many trials while he was in the Khersonese but he finally had to leave permanently when the Phoenicians were ready to invade (circa 493 BCE); Miltiades loaded his possessions on to five warships and sailed for Athens; one of the ships was captured by the Phoenicians and Miltiades’ eldest son, Metiokhus (Metiochus) was taken prisoner; the Phoenicians gave Metiokhus to the Persian king, Darius, and he lived the rest of his life in Persia.

After Miltiades returned to Athens, he alternately earned the trust and ire of the Athenian people; he was strategos at the battle of Marathon and earned favor; his unsuccessful attack on the island of Paros caused him to be fined, impeached and, if that was not enough punishment, he died from injuries he received during the battle; his son Kimon (Cimon) became a renowned Athenian statesman but he was no match for the political aspirations of Perikles (Pericles).

Pertaining to the ancient civilization of the island of Crete dating from circa 3000-1100 BCE.

The name for the Minoan culture was coined by Sir Arthur Evans after his excavations at the palace of Minos at Knossus (Cnossus) on the island of Crete.

The fall of the Minoan civilization has been dated to circa 1100 BCE and has been attributed to a variety of destructive influences ranging from foreign invasions to the volcanic eruption of the island of Thera; usually described simply as a Bronze Age culture (3000-1200 BCE), the Minoans were second only to the Egyptians in their artistic and architectural development.

Minos was undoubtedly a real person but the man and the myth are difficult, if not impossible, to separate; we know that he was the king of the island of Crete prior to the Trojan War (circa 1250 BCE) but at that point, everything else is conjecture or fable.

The most popular story concerning Minos would have us believe that he ordered the master craftsman, Daedalus, to construct the famous labyrinth to house the bull-man known as the Minotaur; when Minos asked Poseidon (lord of the Sea) for a sacrificial animal, Poseidon sent him a perfect bull for the sacrifice; Minos was awed by the beauty of the bull and refused to sacrifice it as he had intended; Poseidon was furious and punished Minos by causing his wife, Pasiphae, to have a child that was half-bull, half-man and called Minos’ Bull, i.e. the Minotaur.

When Minos’ son Androgeus went to the first Panathenaic Games in Athens he attracted the ire of the king, Aegeus, by winning all the prizes; Aegeus had Androgeus killed and Minos waged war on Athens to avenge his son; peace was won only with the promise that Athens would send seven young men and seven young women every year to Crete in order to be slain by the ungodly Minotaur.

The youths were placed in the labyrinth and the Minotaur would hunt them down and savagely kill them; the tradition continued for three years until Aegeus’ son, Theseus, voluntarily entered the labyrinth and killed the Minotaur; Theseus was given a spool of thread by Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, which he unwound as he entered the labyrinth and was thus able to retrace his steps and escape the intricate maze; that story is, as Plutarkh (Plutarch) relates, what happens when you peak the ire of an eloquent and unforgiving group of people such as the Athenians.

Regardless of the details of Minos’ life, he was in fact an influential and powerful ruler and his reputation passed from the clouded annals of prehistory into Greek history; Minos died on the island of Sicily in an unsuccessful attempt to re-capture Daedalus.

When king Minos asked Poseidon (lord of the Sea) for a sacrificial animal, Poseidon sent him a perfect bull from the sea; Minos was so taken by the beauty of the bull that he refused to sacrifice it as he had promised; Poseidon punished him by causing Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, to have a child that was half-bull and half-man, i.e. the Minotaur.

According to the popular story, Minos placed the Minotaur in a complex maze, known as the labyrinth, and would place Athenian youths in the maze to be hunted down and killed by the Minotaur; on the third consecutive year of the sacrifice of the youths, the beast was finally killed by the Athenian hero, Theseus.

The essayist, Plutarkh (Plutarch) (46-120 CE), disputed the existence of the Minotaur and attributes the story to the eloquent and unforgiving Athenians who were seeking revenge on king Minos for his invasion of Athens; Plutarkh suggests that the story of the Minotaur was a distortion of events revolving around a man named Taurus who was a renowned and egotistical athlete; the undefeated Taurus was finally humbled by the Athenian hero, Theseus, and the story was concocted that Theseus had defeated a bull-man instead of a man named bull, i.e. Taurus.

The collective name for the daughters of king Minyas who mocked Dionysus and refused to participate in his revelries; the girls were driven mad and eventually turned into bats as punishment for their father’s insulting behavior.

Specifically, the descendants of Minyas but usually designating the people of Orkhomenos (Orchomenos) in Boeotia and Iolkos (Iolcos) in Thessaly; a number of the Argonauts were Minyans and they are often collectively called by that name.

The legendary founder of the Minyan culture of Orkhomenos (Orchomenos) in Boeotia and Iolkos (Iolcos) in Thessaly circa 2000 BCE; Minyas was the father of Klymene (Clymene) and the great-grandfather of Iason (Jason).

Astyages wanted his daughter’s infant son murdered and gave the foul task to one of his trusted kinsmen, Harpagus; when Harpagus gave thought to the matter he decided to keep his hands clean and give the dirty deed to someone of lower rank; he ordered Mitradates to take the baby into the wilderness and leave it to the beasts and elements.

Mitradates took the baby back to his home and found that his wife, Kyno (Cyno), had just given birth but that her baby had been born dead; Kyno persuaded Mitradates to spare the life of the king’s grandson and to present their dead baby to Harpagus and declare that the evil deed had been done; Harpagus believed Mitradates’ story and gave the matter no more thought.

Mitradates and Kyno raised the child as their own and all went well until the young boy had a dispute with his playmates; in one of their games, the boy was chosen to play the role of the king; when one of the other boys disobeyed a “royal” command, the “king” ordered that he be beaten; the boy who had been punished took offense at such base treatment because his family was of noble birth and a mere cowherd’s son had ordered him beaten; the boy’s father took the insulting matter to king Astyages for justice; Astyages called Mitradates and the boy to stand trial but when Astyages saw the family resemblance of the boy to his daughter, Mandane, and to himself he realized that Mandane’s son was still alive; Astyages demanded the truth from the cowherd and he soon understood the entire sequence of events.

The young boy was taken from Mitradates and Kyno and given to his natural mother and father, Mandane and her Persian husband, Kambyses; the boy was named Kyrus (Cyrus) and as he grew to manhood he was the best and brightest of his peers; he united the Persians and led a successful revolt against king Astyages.

Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy.

The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.

Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy.

The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.

In the poem, Works and Days, Hesiod warns his brother, Perses, that in the fifth generation of mortal men (the age of Iron) Aidos and Nemesis (Indignation) will leave the earth and there will be no defense against evil; she is also referred to as Shame and Respect.

The original goddess of Fate; her name is sometimes translated as Destiny.

In later myths Moira was replaced by three goddesses called the Moirai: Klotho (Clotho), Lakhesis (Lachesis) and Atropos; Klotho spins the thread of life; Lakhesis determines the length of the thread; Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death.

The goddesses who determine human Fate; they are the three daughters of Zeus and Themis; their names are: Atropos, Klotho (Clotho) and Lakhesis (Lachesis); Atropos cuts the thread of life when the proper time has come for death; Klotho spins the thread of life; Lakhesis determines the length of the thread of life; they are not to be confused with the Furies, who are the daughters of Nyx (Night).

Eurytus and Kteatus were the twin sons of Molione and Poseidon (lord of the Sea); they are sometimes said to have been joined at the waist; even though they were fathered by Poseidon, they were reared by Aktor (Actor).

Mopsos was taught the augury of birds by Apollon; after the Argonauts had successfully obtained the Golden Fleece, they were stranded in the deserts of Libya; while walking on the hot sands Mopsos stepped on the tail of a serpent and was bitten on the leg and died almost instantly.

The serpent was no ordinary snake but was a nameless, supernatural beast born from the drops of blood that dripped from Medusa’s severed head onto the desert sands when Perseus was flying across Libya trying to escape Medusa’s sisters.

The serpent was one of the many offspring from Medusa’s blood that fell on the Libyan desert and not even the magical ministrations of Medea could save Mopsos from the effects of the venom; the Argonauts buried Mopsos under a mound and marched around his grave three times in full armor.

A race of people who lived on the southwestern edge of the Euxine (Black Sea); they derive their name from their custom of building their homes in wooden towers; their name literally means Dwellers-In-Wooden-Houses.

A mountain in southern Greece, on the north-central Peloponnesian Peninsula, due south of the port city of Patrae on the thirty-eighth parallel; 7,295 feet (2,224 meters) in height; also called Olonos.

A mountain in western Asia Minor southeast of the site of the ancient city of Troy.

This is the mountain from which Zeus maintained his vigil of the Trojan War; 5,810 feet (1,771 meters) in height; now called Mount Psiloriti; Ida is also the name of the range of mountains of which Mount Ida is the highest peak; the summit of Mount Ida is called Gargaros.

A mountain on the island of Samos; noted because of the 3,399 feet (1,036 meters) tunnel which was dug under the mountain, circa 530-520 BCE, during the reign of the famous tyrant, Polykrates (Polycrates) under the supervision of Eupalinos of Megara.

A mountain in northeastern Greece between ancient Thessaly and Makedon (Macedon).

Olympos is the highest mountain in Greece, rising to a height of 9,570 feet (2,917 meters); the home of the Immortals after Zeus and his siblings became rulers of all creation; the heights of the mountain were protected by a dark veil, known as the Gates of the Sky, which are opened and closed by the Hours.

Sometimes considered more of a hill than a mountain, Mount Pelion is located near the eastern coast of the mainland and having a height of 5,250 feet (1,600 meters); the slopes of Pelion were the home of the Centaurs before the war with the Lapithae; during their war with the Immortals, the Gigantes (Giants) tried to pile Mount Ossa on top of Mount Pelion in order to reach the summit of Mount Olympos (Olympus).

Mount Pelion was the site of the marriage between Thetis and Peleus; as one of the wedding gifts, the Centaur Kheiron (Chiron) presented an ashen spear which he had fashioned from wood cut from Mount Pelion; the spear was polished by the goddess Athene (Athena) and as a finishing touch, Hephaistos (Hephaestus) fitted it with a head; eventually the spear was used by Akhilleus (Achilles) during the siege of the city of Troy; men from the area around Mount Pelion were part of the Greek forces at the siege of Troy and were called Magnesians, i.e. men from Magnesia.

The ship the Argonauts used, the Argo, was built below Mount Pelion; when the Persians invaded Greece circa 480 BCE, their large naval fleet was wrecked by storms off the coast near Mount Pelion; also spelled Pelium.

Another name for the peninsula of Kyzikos; also called Bear Island and Bear Mountain.

Kyzikos juts into the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) from the Phrygian mainland north of the Aisepos river; a six-handed race called the Earthborn dwell on Bear Island; the Earthborn were the aboriginal descendants of Poseidon (lord of the Sea).

Also, the Doliones lived on Bear Island and were ruled by king Kyzikos (Cyzicos); the Argonauts were guests of the Doliones but, after they left Bear Island, they lost their way in the darkness and were blown off course; when they accidentally returned to Bear Island the Doliones mistakenly thought that the Earthborn warriors were attacking them and gave battle; during the confusion of the night-fight, Iason (Jason) killed king Kyzikos.

According to the poet, Hesiod, the Muses inhabit Mount Helicon and the area around Mount Olympos (Olympus) known as Pieria; by calling upon and receiving the blessings of the Muses, a poet or dancer or musician can transcend the normal bounds of talent and rise to unimagined levels of creative insight.

For more detailed information on Muses I suggest that you consult the Immortals section of this site.

The advanced Aegean civilization that was centered in the city of Mykenae (Mycenae) on the Peloponnesian Peninsula and spread throughout the Mediterranean basin from circa 1400-1150 BCE.

After the fall of the ancient Minoan civilization, the Mykenaeans seemed to become the center of culture and commerce for the Balkan Peninsula and the islands of the Aegean Sea; the location of Mykenai was ideal for controlling commercial traffic between the Isthmus of Korinth (Corinth) and the Peloponnesian Peninsula; the city’s position on its bastion of mountain rock made it difficult, if not impossible, to assail.

The city of Tiryns was a rival of Mykenai but never achieved the same level of influence or prosperity that Mykenai ultimately commanded; the fact that the king of Mykenai, Agamemnon, was chosen to lead the Greek forces against the city of Troy (circa 1250 BCE) indicates the wealth and military power that the city possessed.

In The Iliad, Akhilleus (Achilles) was the leader of the Myrmidons; when the inhabitants of the island of Aegina were wiped out by a plague, Zeus repopulated the island by creating people from ants; Myrmidons literally means Ants.

The mother of Adonis and daughter of the mythical king of the island of Cyprus, Kinyras (Cinyras).

Myrrha was the mother of Adonis by the unnatural union with her father; Myrrha had dishonored Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and, as a punishment, the goddess caused Myrrha’s father to seduce her; Adonis was the result of that union; when Kinyras came to his senses, he intended to kill Myrrha but the Immortals intervened and turned the disgraced girl into a myrrh tree.

Myrtilus was a dishonest man who betrayed his master (or employer) but when he was wronged, the Immortals were offended and punished his wrongdoer.

Myrtilus was the charioteer of king Oenomaus of the district of Elis on the western Peloponnesian Peninsula; a young and rich man named Pelops wanted to marry the daughter of king Oenomaus but he could only do so if he won a chariot race against the king’s championship team.

Myrtilus accepted a bribe from Pelops and sabotaged Oenomaus’ chariot so that Pelops could win the race and the hand of Hippodamia; after Pelops won the race he refused to pay Myrtilus for his dirty deed and threw him into the sea; even though Myrtilus was a man of weak character, the Immortals punished Pelops and his descendants by giving them lives of misery and hardship.

The ancient name for the main city on the island of Lesbos located on the southeastern coast of the island.

The city is thought to be named after Mitilini whose father, Makaras, settled on the island of Lesbos and named the island and its primary cities after his son-in-law, daughters and son respectively: Lesbos, Mitilini, Issa, Antissa, Mithumna, Arisbi and Eressos.

Milmas to Mytilene

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